Life Recovery: From Drug Dealer to Mentor

Austin, TX - An Austin man's being recognized for turning his life around. He went from being a dealer to becoming a mentor.

Richard Lopez comes from a rough neighborhood where he described most of the people he went to school with as drug addicts. He made it through -- and turned his life around.

"We were miserable," Lopez said. "I could buy the kids anything they wanted, when they wanted but we were all misterable."

He has been to the bottom.

Living in East Austin Lopez was out of control, addicted to alcohol, drugs and cigarettes.

"I was at a three-pack-a-day habit, 12 pack of beer, an eight ball every two, three days," he said.

He was selling too.

"I was my best customer. So I was great. I was on top of the world," Lopez said. "Y'know, come and go as I please. Mom wasn't keeping tabs on me. I was rolling with dough, had a lot of 'friends.' Of course, I always had to watch my back. I always had to have a weapon with me."

Lopez said he had a damaged childhood. He was smoking at 9-years-old, doing drugs by 12, selling by 17. He also said he was sexually abused by a neighbor.

"Dad was a womanizer, mom was an alcoholic," he said. "They were doing things I promised myself I wouldn't do when I got older. And I became exactly like my dad almost, and my mom."

His destructive cycle continued, but he was empty and fed up.

"I was in this insanity for many years. I quit a thousand times," he said. "I kept doing the same things and looking for different results, y'know."

By 1993 he and his wife committed to change.

He joined a church and surrounded himself with hapy, stable families.

It was rough. At one point, Richard went through 16 jobs in a four year span. Eventually, he came across a flyer for an organization known for giving a hand up to people like him.

He's worked at Goodwill more than 10 years. His supervisors helped keep him on the straight and narrow -- and helped him get to college to learn new skills. Before Goodwill, he didn't even know what the Internet was.

Richar's worked his way up to mail room manager. He's responsible for workers who ship, scan and bil hundreds of license plates daily. He's a mentor for them to.

He used to measure success on power and his access to escaping reality. Now, success is emotional, it's real.

"Now the smile on this lady's face. My wife. 'Cause if mama isn't happy, ain't nobody happy," Lopez said.

Now the family cycle of abuse and violence is over. Richard is setting a better example for his four kids and 13 grandkids.

"My heart keeps going because of love for my wife and family," he said. "If it wasn't for them, well, I'd be dead. I'd be institutionalized."

He's still dealing with side effects.

For overcoming his challenges and building a career with the company, Goodwill International just gave Richard it's achiever of the year award.

He'll go to Washington state to pick it up in a few weeks.

Last month he went to Washington D.C. to speak to Texas Representatives about issues that affect Goodwill and employment in Central Texas.

In the furutre, he'll work on getting more training and hopefully -- another promotion.